Bible Study on God's Story

3Story is a way of understanding your relationships with God and with other people. Out of a relationship with Christ and others, an amazing, heroic Christian life happens naturally: God’s life touches yours and yours touches another’s.

Think of three circles representing three stories: God’s story, My story, and Their (others’) stories. These three circles overlap every day: you and your story with God’s story, you and your story with your friend’s stories, your friends and their stories with God’s story. 3Story is not new; Jesus’s life actually characterized this concept. As much as possible, 3Story is a return to a way of living like Jesus did with his disciples. Living out the gospel in actions, not just words.

When you understand how your story affects others’ stories, you see how powerful the impact of God’s story can be through you. First, let God’s story affect yours. Jesus invites you to seek him. To rest in him, and simply be with him. When you do this, your life will show the fruit of God’s Spirit—Iove and self-control, faithfulness and joy—and you will be a pleasure to God and a blessing to others.

Next, pay attention to the stories around you. Discover. Be involved. Ask good questions but also listen. Disclose your story with honesty and realness, sharing who you really are and why you need Jesus. As you are transparent, your story will connect with those stories and with God’s.

The more the three stories interact and overlap in your life, the more you’ll learn something about yourself, God, and others so you can make important relational connections. And it all starts with the conversations you have with Jesus.

Youth For Christ, Conversations with Jesus, Updated and Revised Edition: Talk That Really Matters (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012).